Institutional Advancement

Institutional Advancement undertakes all fund-raising tasks for the University of Pittsburgh, as well as maintaining active involvement with alumni around the world. The impact of Institutional Advancement reaches beyond traditional development services to advance the University of Pittsburgh in coordination with the needs of the students and faculty of Pitt's many schools and programs. By seeking essential funds for the University's future from foundations, corporations, alumni, and friends, Institutional Advancement facilitates the University's objectives for the growth and enhancement of its educational resources.

In fiscal year 1997, advancement programs of the University raised $54.7 million in contributions from private sources. Of this total, alumni gave $7.8 million (14.2 percent), corporations gave $5.0 million (9.2 percent), and foundations gave $14.4 million (26.3 percent). University trustees, other individuals, and other groups and sources gave $27.5 million (50.3%), which includes a special gift of over $15 million from Presbyterian University Hospital to the University.

Institutional Advancement's 120 staff members also promote and mobilize volunteer activities in support of fund-raising, coordinate alumni advocacy efforts, and guide other activities to sustain the University's mission. Organizations under the direction of Institutional Advancement include the Pitt Ambassadors, which is the University's major outreach effort to businesses in the region; the Associates Program of the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, which encourages dialogue between the business school and the corporate community through educational and social gatherings; and the Blue and Gold Society, comprised of outstanding student leaders who represent the University at alumni and community events.

Through the Office of Alumni Relations and the University of Pittsburgh Alumni Association, Institutional Advancement promotes mutually productive relationships between the University and its alumni, who number nearly 174,000 and who reside in all 50 states, in U.S. territories, and in 119 foreign countries. Alumni Relations seeks to involve increasing numbers of alumni with the University by fostering their continued connection with Pitt after graduation. Institutional Advancement solicits guidance from University alumni and organizes alumni efforts to advance the University. The Alumni Association charters a growing number of Pitt alumni clubs, works to influence government offices to fund and nurture higher education, and assists the University in its efforts to attract and support high-caliber students. Alumni continue to be the main link between the University's past and its future.

Institutional Advancement's Planned Giving department assists friends and alumni in planning major contributions to the University. These contributions can be made through gifts of life insurance, through life income gifts (a gift in which the University receives a portion and the donor receives a portion for the remainder of his or her life), or through deferred income gifts (which are gifts given by the donor in the present but not received or used by the University until a future date determined by either a period of years or in the event of the donor's death). The staff of the Planned Giving department help individual donors to wisely invest their money in an area of interest in the University.

The staff of Corporate and Foundation Relations act as liaisons between the funding needs of faculty, and their departments, and the philanthropic interests of corporations and foundations. Institutional Advancement cultivates relationships with individual donors whose affiliations with particular corporations or foundations may prove beneficial to the University as funding sources. Several corporations are willing to give a gift which matches an eligible contribution given by an individual donor.

Activities held in the Heinz Memorial Chapel are administered through Institutional Advancement. The Gothic chapel is famous for its magnificent stained glass windows. A focal point of campus life for students, faculty, staff, and alumni, the Chapel provides a place for worship services, concerts, lectures, memorial services, weddings, and individual reflection and meditation.

The Office of Special Events, also under Institutional Advancement, coordinates all University-wide special programs, bringing professional expertise to the many events held annually at the University.

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